A Call to Arms for Conservative Christian Science Educators

by
Steve Deckard, Ed.D.

The young and growing discipline of science
education is at a pivotal point of development. This very
important field deals with aspects of how we teach our children
and inform society about science. From a young-Earth creationist
perspective, there is a major problem within the discipline.
This problem is the prevalent and persistent onslaught of
the false ideology of the evolutionary perspective or worldview.1
In an effort to combat this problem and establish a
firm Biblical base for the discipline of science education,
the following tenets are proposed.

Proposed Tenets for Creationist Based Science
Education

1. A student's worldview is an important determinant
regarding the learning of specific knowledge (I Corinthians
2:14-16).2 This is especially true in the scientific
disciplines. Worldview development should be an integral part
of true science education (and for all education).

2. The makeup of a learner mirrors the Creator
and therefore is Trinitarian in nature. The learner uses the
senses, the mind, and the spirit in all facets of learning.
Complete learning encompasses hands-on (senses), minds-on,
and hearts-on (use of spiritual discernment) components. All
three components must be in harmony with the Creator for true
and complete learning to occur.3

3. Because the learner has a three-fold nature,
effective teaching must address all three components of learning.

4. Assessment and testing (examinations) in
science education should focus on the content being taught
and the learner characteristics. Among these are: (1) testing
of factual knowledge; (2) testing of student's understanding
of God's creation and its purpose and function; (3) testing
of the specific development of the student's worldview; and
(4) the testing of the student's abilities in the three component
areas of learning as stated in tenet number two.4

5. Specific textbook chapters on Biblical and
scientific creationism should be included in all science textbooks
written for the Christian community. The rest of the textbook
content, as well as all other curricular materials, should
contain the principles and elements of Biblical and scientific
creationism in a fully integrated form.5

6. Students should be exposed to evolutionary
philosophy after they are thoroughly grounded in a
creationist worldview. Persons who are competent, knowledgeable,
and are able to explain why evolutionary theory is false and
how it contradicts a true Christian creationist worldview,
should conduct this teaching.

7. Both creationism and evolutionary theory
are belief systems. This statement of fact does not make it
wrong for either of them to be discussed and taught in the
science classroom. Science does not hold within its domain
exclusivity of knowledge and does not possess the answer to
all of man's questions and problems. Clearly, the study of
science and origins is multidisciplinary; therefore, science
teaching must not be limited. The process of limiting is not
good teaching and does not allow the student to obtain the
big picture.

8. Christian teaching points the student toward
the source of all knowledge (God) and explains how that knowledge
is obtained by revelation and reason. Science is only one
method for obtaining knowledge about the world around us and
should be presented as such.

9. Creationism must be taught systematically.
Basic principles of creationism must be integrated into the
textbooks and curricular materials of each scientific discipline.
Such principles include the following:

a. Time, space, matter/energy are all created
entities and therefore had a beginning.

b. Life was supernaturally created.

c. Teleological considerations (design and
purpose) are appropriate and therefore must be integrated
throughout science textbooks and curriculum materials.

d. The world which can be observed is not
the original created world, but rather the cursed and flooded
remnant of that world. Proper interpretation of scientific
data must include these considerations.

e. The human mind was formed for the purpose
(among others) of exploring and understanding God's creation.
Students must be encouraged to recognize this high calling.

f. The Fall in Genesis 3 has affected the
human mind. Limited because of its finiteness, the mind
is further clouded by the effects of sin and wrong thinking.
The teaching of a fully Biblical creationist worldview is
thus paramount in attempts to understanding the creation.

g. The human mind was formed to function at
its best when focused upon the Creator (Colossians 3:2).
It also follows that the student's epistemological beliefs
(what the student believes about the nature of knowledge
and learning) are developmental in nature. As a student
matures physically and mentally, he must also develop spiritually.
Because the battle between the two worldviews, creation/evolution,
is a spiritual one, the teacher must be aware of the student's
spiritual developmental level.

10. A teacher should understand that a student's
spiritual beliefs parallel his or her beliefs about scientific
knowledge. Just as scientific beliefs form a trichotomy, so
do their spiritual beliefs. The trichotomy consists of a certain
percentage of the beliefs being tentative, certain percentage
unchanging, and a certain percentage undiscovered. Thus, to
some extent both science knowledge beliefs and spiritual beliefs
change over time. It is this change and development that the
teacher can affect in a Christ-honoring manner.

Discussion and Conclusions

The evidence is indisputable, and the battle
lines are drawn. It is past time for the Christian community
to defend the Biblical, creation-based worldview. With the
abundant evidence for Creation, the Fall, and the Flood available,
and the extraordinary resources which now exist, there can
be no excuse for Christian teachers and Christian schools
to capitulate to the evolutionary worldview so hostile to
Christianity. It is also time that all youth were taught real
and truthful science. These tenets serve as a starting point
for such an objective.

References

1 Although the secular world recognizes
the idea of worldview, many do not understand its importance
or significance. Therefore it is necessary to define worldview
(especially from a Christian young Earth creationist perspective).
For the purposes of this document, worldview is an ideology,
philosophy, theology, movement, or religion that provides
an overarching approach to understanding God and His world,
or a set of presuppositions (assumptions which may be true,
partially true, or entirely false) which we hold (consciously
or subconsciously, consistently or inconsistently) about
the makeup of our world (Developing a Biblical Worldview,
Nehemiah Institute, p. 14). 2 The importance of this principle has been established
by works such as: Developing a Biblical Worldview,
by Daniel Smithwick, 1996. The Capabilities of Science
in the Formation of a Modern Worldview, Steve Deckard,
1997. 3 For example see: Genesis 1:26, Hebrews 5:14,
Colossians 3:2, Genesis 6:5, Deuteronomy 4:29, Hebrews 10:22,
Matthew 22:37, Acts 17:11, Romans 12:2, and II Timothy 1:7.
4 For example see: Psalm 26:2, Jeremiah 12:3,
II Corinthians 11:28, II Corinthians 13:5, Galatians 6:4,
and I Thessalonians 5:21. Also note: the testing of students
in domains outside of content knowledge is an area of on-going
investigation and the need for further research is great.
Current assessment instruments which address some of the
issues raised here include: (1) the PEERS Test; (2) SAT-9,
Christian School Edition; and (3) Worldview Test (WVT).
Information about the PEERS Test can be obtained by calling
1-800-948-3101. Information about the Association for Christian
Schools SAT-9 can be obtained by calling 719-528-6906. For
information regarding the WVT see: Deckard, Steve W., and
Gregory M. Sobko reference listed below. 5 One textbook that may serve as a model of this
approach is Biology Principles and Perspectives by
John Silvius, published by Kendall Hunt, Dubuque, Iowa.

* Dr. Deckard is currently the VPAA at Trinity
Bible College in Ellendale, ND 58436. He served as assistant
professor in the science education department at ICR from
1991 until July of 1998. He will also continue to teach
in the ICR Graduate School summer program.